I wanted to first introduce myself here, as this is my first time on the board.
This is my third attempt at fishkeeping, it seems that about every 5-6 years I get the bug, and go out and get a tank and some new fish. The first time, I was 17 (about 15 years ago, pre-internet), and made a huge mistake. I bought a wolffish (not cichlid, the real wolf fish!), and bought a 10 gallon tank, no cycling (bought fish and tank same day). Collected some rocks for substrate, bought the cheepest filter I could find, no heater and one small artificial plant. Can you believe the LFS let me do this? The poor guy lasted 3 years though, his fate was handed to him when he jumped out of the tank (making a run for it) in the middle of the night.
The next time I attempted fish keeping, I was 25 and married. I purchased a 20 gallon high, a nice filter and heater, proper substrate and deco's for the tank. I cycled the tank (best of my knowledge at the time) and added tetras and danios. Nice little tank for a year, but we had a power spike and I think the tank got shocked (along with my tv, computer, etc...). Fried fish.
Now, I am 32, still married, with little kids. I got the bug again a few weeks ago. I went out my little kids, bought a 29 gallon tank, Elite Hush 35 Filter, 100w heater, nice substrate and fake plants, and most importantly TEST Equipment!.
Here is the breakdown to what I did:
Day 1: Brought home everything, setup tank, filled with water, turned on filter, heater, etc...
Day 2: Checked pH (7.2) and introduced a pinch of food (to start cycle).
Day 3: Checked pH (7.2), pinch of food. No ammonia, nitrite or nitrates
Day 4: Introduced 3 Gold Skirt Tetras. No am/ni/na.
Day 5-10: pH steady (6.8). Tetras doing well, eating and pooping, hanging around heater mostly. Heater is behind a large rock-type cave and around some fake plants. Probably a little shy?
Day 11-14: No am/ni/na. Nothing (clear on all tests). pH dropped to 6.6
Day 15: Still no am/ni/na. pH at 6.6
Day 16: Added 4 swordtails, 3 Gold Skirt Tetras (total of 10 fish). I realize that it was early to add, but my excitement got the best of me.
Day 17-22: Ammonia at 0, nitrites at 0, Nitrate at 5ppm. Beginners luck?
Day 23-24: pH dropped to 6.2
Day 25: On this board, asking questions to what I did right/wrong.
Man, this post is really long sorry, here are the questions:
1. Is my tank cycled? With 10 fish, I would have expected an ammonia spike, and after almost 4 weeks, never happened. Water never really clouded, just a little after week 1.
2. Will the pH be a problem at 6.2? I added a bit of pH up yesterday, waiting until tonight to recheck.
3. Water changes, I have been doing 10% every 5-6 days. Too much? Too little?
4. I realize that I added way too many fish, too fast... No loses, fish seem well. Can I safely add more at this point? What should I add? I would like to add 1-2 unique larger fish that will get along with it's tankmates.
5. Plants: Are there any plants that I could place into my low-light tank? 18w lighting for 29 gallons.
6. Vaccuming the substrate: Should I do this weekly?
7. Filter cleaning/changes. There are 2 media types, foam and a white type (cloth?). Should I change/clean them together, or seperate?
8. Heating: 100w doesn't seem to be quite enough. My swords hang out by the submersed heater all day. The temp at the opposite side is between 76-78 all day. Do the swords need more heat, or are they just real shy. Since adding the new tetras (6 gold skirts now), they are active and fun to watch in the open part of the tank (half is shaded with art. plants, rocks, the other half is more open with only 1-2 plants).
Thanks and sorry again for the long post!
This is my third attempt at fishkeeping, it seems that about every 5-6 years I get the bug, and go out and get a tank and some new fish. The first time, I was 17 (about 15 years ago, pre-internet), and made a huge mistake. I bought a wolffish (not cichlid, the real wolf fish!), and bought a 10 gallon tank, no cycling (bought fish and tank same day). Collected some rocks for substrate, bought the cheepest filter I could find, no heater and one small artificial plant. Can you believe the LFS let me do this? The poor guy lasted 3 years though, his fate was handed to him when he jumped out of the tank (making a run for it) in the middle of the night.
The next time I attempted fish keeping, I was 25 and married. I purchased a 20 gallon high, a nice filter and heater, proper substrate and deco's for the tank. I cycled the tank (best of my knowledge at the time) and added tetras and danios. Nice little tank for a year, but we had a power spike and I think the tank got shocked (along with my tv, computer, etc...). Fried fish.
Now, I am 32, still married, with little kids. I got the bug again a few weeks ago. I went out my little kids, bought a 29 gallon tank, Elite Hush 35 Filter, 100w heater, nice substrate and fake plants, and most importantly TEST Equipment!.
Here is the breakdown to what I did:
Day 1: Brought home everything, setup tank, filled with water, turned on filter, heater, etc...
Day 2: Checked pH (7.2) and introduced a pinch of food (to start cycle).
Day 3: Checked pH (7.2), pinch of food. No ammonia, nitrite or nitrates
Day 4: Introduced 3 Gold Skirt Tetras. No am/ni/na.
Day 5-10: pH steady (6.8). Tetras doing well, eating and pooping, hanging around heater mostly. Heater is behind a large rock-type cave and around some fake plants. Probably a little shy?
Day 11-14: No am/ni/na. Nothing (clear on all tests). pH dropped to 6.6
Day 15: Still no am/ni/na. pH at 6.6
Day 16: Added 4 swordtails, 3 Gold Skirt Tetras (total of 10 fish). I realize that it was early to add, but my excitement got the best of me.
Day 17-22: Ammonia at 0, nitrites at 0, Nitrate at 5ppm. Beginners luck?
Day 23-24: pH dropped to 6.2
Day 25: On this board, asking questions to what I did right/wrong.
Man, this post is really long sorry, here are the questions:
1. Is my tank cycled? With 10 fish, I would have expected an ammonia spike, and after almost 4 weeks, never happened. Water never really clouded, just a little after week 1.
2. Will the pH be a problem at 6.2? I added a bit of pH up yesterday, waiting until tonight to recheck.
3. Water changes, I have been doing 10% every 5-6 days. Too much? Too little?
4. I realize that I added way too many fish, too fast... No loses, fish seem well. Can I safely add more at this point? What should I add? I would like to add 1-2 unique larger fish that will get along with it's tankmates.
5. Plants: Are there any plants that I could place into my low-light tank? 18w lighting for 29 gallons.
6. Vaccuming the substrate: Should I do this weekly?
7. Filter cleaning/changes. There are 2 media types, foam and a white type (cloth?). Should I change/clean them together, or seperate?
8. Heating: 100w doesn't seem to be quite enough. My swords hang out by the submersed heater all day. The temp at the opposite side is between 76-78 all day. Do the swords need more heat, or are they just real shy. Since adding the new tetras (6 gold skirts now), they are active and fun to watch in the open part of the tank (half is shaded with art. plants, rocks, the other half is more open with only 1-2 plants).
Thanks and sorry again for the long post!